


The Title is a WIP

by Starflight_Writes



Series: My friend's fanfics cuz they don't have AO3 [1]
Category: Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy
Genre: Other, The Dead Men (Skulduggery Pleasant), my friend's fanfic, this is not mine
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:21:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 15,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26953549
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starflight_Writes/pseuds/Starflight_Writes
Summary: Listen, I did not write this. My friend, Carlijn did. I have never read or am planning to read Skulduggery Pleasant.A message from Carlijn:Okay, so this is my first Skulduggery Pleasant fanfic, centred around the characters you know and love (and some of the ones you don’t) and my own OCs. I kinda pushed and pulled the timeframes a bit to suit me, so it's not really canon (or at all). Anyways...enjoy (or not. I don’t really care either way.)Blah blah blah just read the thing.
Series: My friend's fanfics cuz they don't have AO3 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1966918
Kudos: 3





	1. Prologue

The screaming. The endless pain and torture. It was agony. All he could do was count down the seconds until the clock on the wall reached three-fifteen, and it stopped. That one blessed hour. A Cleaver brought him food, but still he sat there, alone with his guilt. His loss. He had felt their deaths as though they were his own- a price he had to pay. Was forced to pay by his own actions. But he was also alone with his hope. Hope that his sacrifice had been enough to divert the terrible future he had seen- the one in which everyone he’d ever loved was gone, and in their place stood a twisted, evil man. His lip curled. That monster Serpine. He’d made a lot of enemies over the years- Skulduggery Pleasant and the rest of the Dead Men, including Valkyrie Cain- but never one quite like him. Never one quite like Erskine Ravel.


	2. Chatper 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up. These are long and have no proper spacing in them.

Valkyrie Cain walked down the streets of Roarhaven with Skulduggery Pleasant. People stared at them- although whether they were staring at the living skeleton or Darquesse’s other half, she wasn’t sure. A few months had passed since Devastation Day, and Roarhaven’s civilians still looked at her with distaste and revulsion. She understood them. So many people had died that day, before the Sensitives were able to fool Darquesse into leaving for the realm of the Faceless Ones. So many people had died at her hand. True, it was her hand, like, twice removed, but hers nonetheless. The guilt still weighed heavily on her. She had thought about leaving, but in the end had decided to stay. Running away from problems had never been her preferred solution- she liked facing them head-on, hopefully getting some good punches in too. Besides, without her, who would stop Skulduggery from doing something stupid? To be fair, her presence wasn’t likely to do much either way, but she, like everyone, had her little fantasies. Notwithstanding the fact that she was probably just going to rush straight in with him. Now that they were the new Arbiter Corps- two members strong- they could pretty much do whatever they liked. Assuming Supreme Mage China liked it. Supreme Mage. Ha. The power was gonna get to her head sometime soon- if it hadn’t already. They passed the new Corrival Academy, which, in her opinion, was an ingenious idea. She could really have done with something like that in her own youth. On second thoughts, she’d much preferred her risk-taking, dangerous life with Skulduggery. They made a great team, specialising in kicking down doors and getting into fights. Then again, she was...special. In more than one way. And not necessarily in a good way either. Her phone chimed. She took it out, and saw a message from Saracen Rue. She almost ignored it, but then decided against it, seeing as the last message she’d gotten from him had said:  _ rogue cleavers! get over here! (and order pizza if you can).  _ They had then proceeded to go get rid of some randomly rogue Cleavers and order the wrong pizza (how was that even possible)? In her books, anyone who didn’t like anchovies on pizza was either an idiot or a criminal mastermind. She opened the text thread and sighed. This one just said:  _ get!  _ Not even any requests for food. She saw that Skulduggery had received that same message, looked at him, and shrugged. 

“Why are you shrugging?” he asked. She shrugged again, then frowned.

“I don’t know, it just seemed like a natural thing to do.”

“Shrugging is your natural response to texts from Saracen?”

“No! Well...yes, usually.” He shrugged.

“Fair point.” He took off and she had to run fast to catch up with him.

“I’m out of practice,” she said.

“I’m never out of practice,” he replied. 

“You’re a skeleton.”

“When did you start making all these good points? I can’t even counter them with my own.”

“Excuse me? I have always made good points.”

“You have? Well then, clearly I’ve been missing something.” And then they were at the High Sanctuary, where Dexter Vex was waiting for them.

“Wait, where’s Saracen?” Valkyrie asked.

“I don’t even know. Dude dumped me here, told me to wait for you and to take you to the Prism Room, and then disappeared.” Dexter grumbled.

“Ah, cheer up, Dex. You get to talk to us.” Valkyrie said.

“That’s supposed to cheer me up?” Dexter replied. Fletcher Renn teleported right in front of them, and they jumped. “Let me guess, you got the Saracen treatment too?”

“How did you know?” Fletcher asked, seeming genuinely confused. Valkyrie rolled her eyes. No brain cells, as per usual.

“Moving on, can you get us to the Prism Room?” she asked. They grabbed hold of him and in a split second were standing outside the Prism Room.

“I said ‘Prism Room’ not ‘outside Prism Room’?” she asked snippily. She wasn’t sure what was wrong with her today, but it didn’t matter.

“I figured that we didn’t exactly want to teleport right in the middle of whatever was happening in there.” There were no sounds coming from the room, but they hadn’t known that. Fletcher had actually had a good idea. She immediately felt bad for snapping, but that didn’t matter. Nothing really mattered anymore.

“That was actually smart, Fletch.” Dexter couldn’t keep the surprise out of his voice.

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Fletcher grumbled. Saracen slipped out of the room, closing the door so fast that they couldn’t even get a glimpse of what was going on.

“Okay, what's with the secrecy?” Fletcher asked.

“Well...there’s a sick woman in there. She managed to drag herself in, give her name and then collapsed.”

“So why did you need us?” Skulduggery asked. Valkyrie had just been thinking that herself. Saracen grimaced.

“Well, thing is, I need to get...Erskine in here.” He looked decidedly uncomfortable as he said that, and the mood dimmed almost immediately. Erskine Ravel was still a fresh wound, something that they didn’t like to talk about. She held a passionate hatred for him. The man who had killed his own best friends, who had betrayed them. The man who had killed Ghastly Bespoke. Well, that traitor sure got what was coming to him.

“Why?” Skulduggery said, his tone low and measured. Dexter narrowed his eyes. Saracen looked like he was about to cry. Fletcher was...well. Fletcher was Fletcher. 

“This woman...she says her name is...Serendipity Ravel.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Carlijn has this thing with long chapters and hard to read paragraphs that are too long. 
> 
> The sparrow flies south for winter(or whatever).
> 
> Starflight out!


	3. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This isn't needed any more. I'm copying and pasting from a google doc.

Erskine sat in his cell and looked at the clock. He sighed. Only half an hour left. Half an hour until the fun began again. Living the good life, he was. He wondered how much longer until his body finally gave out or someone came to put him out of his misery. He hadn’t even managed to write his part of the Elder’s Journals. He wondered what it would have sounded like. ‘Today I antagonised some warlocks, killed my best friends and attempted to reveal magic to the mortals and rule over them.’ It hadn’t even been that much. Sure, he’d killed Anton and Ghastly, sure, he’d started a war between the warlocks and sorcerers, sure, he’d basically double-crossed every single person he knew but otherwise he’d been an okay Grand Mage. Footsteps came from around the corner and he was immediately alert. They stopped, and voices started up. He recognised them and groaned. Now was not the time that he wanted to face his former best friends. He heard snippets of their conversation, and then they moved a little closer. He leaned back and pressed his head against the wall, closing his eyes.

“-not a good idea-” That was Dexter.

“Come on, you can’t be serious. He’s not getting out of there any time soon, not on my watch.” That was Valkyrie.

“I hate to say this, but I agree with Saracen. This could be important.” Fletcher, the teleporter, said. So Saracen was on the other side. Interesting.

“Stop.” Skulduggery’s voice cut through the rest. “I know that he killed Anton and Ghastly, and I know that he betrayed us. Believe me, I’d happily murder him myself for what he did.” Erskine flinched. It was still difficult hearing his friends- former friends- talking about him like that. The words  _ hurt _ . “But we don’t have a choice. We have to do this. You know the plan?” They all agreed grudgingly.

“Fine.Just don't be surprised if he ‘accidentally’ ends up dead.” Dexter muttered. Erskine squeezed his eyes shut, trapping the tears that threatened to fall, then stood up shakily. He leaned against the wall. It was now inevitable, so he might as well hurry it up.

“You realise I can hear you, right?” he called out. He hoped they couldn’t hear the tremble in his voice. Silence.

“Yeah, we do-”

“We don’t really care.” Saracen interrupted whatever insult Dexter had been about to throw at him. The cell door opened, and in front of him stood Skulduggery Pleasant, Valkyrie Cain, Fletcher Renn, Dexter Vex and Saracen Rue.

“Come to put me out of my misery, have you?” He moved his eyes from one to the other, counting them, making sure they were all unhurt, then forced himself to slowly meet their eyes. Val’s eyes were narrowed, zeroing in on him. He took an almost imperceptible step back. He couldn’t help it. She wore the face of the creature who had cursed him to this life. He wasn’t sure if they’d noticed, but the tiny smile tugging at Val’s mouth told him they had. Fletcher was...not emotionless, just not as animated as the rest. Skulduggery was impassive as usual. But Saracen and Dexter- he recoiled from the disappointment and disgust and  _ hate  _ in their eyes. They glared at him, and every instinct told him to curl up into a ball and protect himself from their barely contained desire to make him feel the same pain they felt. What they didn’t know was that he carried that pain with him all the time. But instead he forced himself to stand up taller and meet their eyes, hoping they could read the regret and guilt in his eyes. Dexter’s lip curled, and he turned to Skulduggery.

“Can we please get this over with?” Erskine lowered his eyes until he was staring at Fletcher’s shoes. They weren’t anything remarkable, but right now they seemed like the most important thing. Skulduggery still hadn’t said anything, and the silence was beginning to unnerve him. He was suddenly taken over by a desire to tell them everything, and before he could stop himself he blurted out, “I never wanted them to die.” He inwardly kicked himself. That had just made things worse.

“Oh, they just happened to be in your way, did they?” Saracen sneered.

“N-no. That’s not what I-” Skulduggery suddenly extended his arm and grabbed Erskine’s arm, pulling him out of the cell and closer to the group. Erskine tensed, and his eyes shot up to meet Skulduggery’s eye sockets. The darkness in them was rising to the surface, and fear filled Erskine. He didn’t know why they had come, but he knew exactly what they wanted to do, and he sincerely hoped, when the day came, it would be over quickly. The fear filled his eyes, and Skulduggery loosened his grip. “What-” his voice came out as a whisper. He tried again. “What do you want with me?”

“Just come with us.” Valkyrie said abruptly.

“Why?” he asked. It wasn’t in his nature to not question things that came out of the blue like this.

“You’re not exactly in a position to ask that, Erskine.” Dexter snapped at him. It was the first time any of them had used his name, and he wished Dex hadn’t. It was filled with such terrible forebodings and feelings. Amazing how one word could make him feel fear so badly that he was almost trembling from it. 

“We need you to identify someone. That’s it, then you’ll be coming straight back here.” Skulduggery said.

“Don’t get any ideas.” Saracen said. Erskine almost laughed.

“Think about it. Even if I did escape, how long would it be until you found me by following my screams? I’m condemned to a life of endless agony, remember? I wouldn’t even make it out of the High Sanctuary.” They turned away. So some part of them did still think of him as a friend. Interesting. Fletcher grabbed hold of his arm roughly- so Fletcher wasn’t completely out of the loop- and they were in the doorway of the Prism Room. Erskine faltered as memories washed over him, but now wasn’t the moment. Now wasn’t the moment. He repeated that to himself as he scanned the room for signs of a person, but saw no one. He was about to ask where the person was when he saw the body on the floor. Her chest rose and fell slightly, but other than that she may as well have been dead. Her black hair was spread out underneath her head, and he stopped short. His face paled, his eyes widened and his breathing hitched. Because that-that couldn’t be- be who he thought it was. No. A lot of people had black hair- China Sorrows had it, Valkyrie had it. For the present moment, he couldn’t think of anyone else but he was sure that black was a very popular hair colour. His gaze travelled up and down the woman and latched onto a thin gold bracelet around her slender wrist. And that’s when he knew that it was Serendipity-  _ his  _ Serendipity- lying motionless on the floor. With a cry, he wrenched himself from Fletcher’s grip and ran to her side. He fell to his knees beside her and turned her head so he could see her face. He looked into startling mismatched blue and purple eyes as familiar to him as his own. And Erskine Ravel screamed.


	4. Chapter 3

Valkyrie didn’t know what to think. Erskine was a conundrum. She hadn’t understood the things she’d seen in his eyes down in the cells and she didn’t want to. But now- he’d torn away from Fletcher and they’d all made a move towards him, thinking that he was trying to do something rash like escape. But instead he’d simply run up to the woman on the floor, looked at her face and screamed. He spent almost his entire life screaming, but this was different. This was a scream of raw emotion, a sound that tore at her and almost broke her heart. This was the scream of a man who had just lost the only thing that mattered to him, the scream of a man in pain so terrible it was impossible to soothe.

“Well,” Dexter said. “I guess that answered that question.”

“Apparently so,” Fletcher said. They stared for a few more moments before they heard a sound.

“Please.” Erskine whispered. His voice was hollow, and his eyes when they met hers were broken. “Please. I know you hate me, with good reason, but please save her.” His voice fell, and tears started pouring down his face as he held the woman close as though he would never let her go. She knew they were waiting for her to say something, but Valkyrie couldn’t tear her eyes away from the terrible scene in front of her. Part of her- a disturbingly large part- wanted to let the woman die just to spite Ravel, but she knew that that was wrong. So, grudgingly looking up at the others, she nodded.

“Fletcher, get that new doctor in here. What's her name, Head Gram or something?” Skulduggery said.

“Heather Anagram.” Fletcher corrected him, then disappeared. Moments later, he returned with a woman with grey eyes and blonde hair tied back into a ponytail. She had a no-nonsense voice, asking immediately where her patient was. Her eyes passed over Ravel, noting his presence and ignoring it. Valkyrie liked her immediately. She walked towards the two on the floor, but Erskine wouldn’t- couldn’t- let the woman go. She heard Saracen whisper from behind her, “His brain’s gone into the highest state of shock. He physically can’t let her go, no matter how much he might want to.” They didn’t question how Saracen knew that- Saracen just knew. It almost made her feel bad for him. Almost. Dr Anagram- a name which she was still trying to figure out what it was an anagram for- knelt down beside him and, despite the fact that she knew exactly who he was, whispered something and squeezed his arm gently. She carefully guided his arm away from the woman, and started on the other one, but he jerked back and let her go of his own accord. He looked at Dr Anagram and said something and she nodded. He moved further back. And then his gaze flicked to the clock.

There was a collectively indrawn breath from everyone aside from the doctor and her patient, but even she worked faster as she attempted to stabilise the woman. It was ten past four and counting. Erskine had five minutes. He looked at them pleadingly, but Fletcher had to be on hand to teleport the woman into the hospital. It was so quiet it seemed as though everyone was holding their breath in anticipation as the minute hand got closer...ever closer to the dreaded four fifteen. It ticked past the four fourteen mark and slowly, almost grudgingly reached four fifteen. Erskine dropped to his knees, fists clenched, his entire body shaking. A tiny whimper escaped him, but he quickly stifled it as the pain carried on. She frowned, and saw that they were all as confused as she was, aside from maybe Skulduggery, but then again, he had a skull for a head. You never could tell what he was thinking. What she didn’t understand was what Erskine was doing. Then she saw that he was staring at the woman, almost willing her to disappear. And she understood. He was holding back the screams that so desperately wanted to escape him for the sake of the woman- Serendipity. He must have had immense willpower to be able to do that- she knew that even she wouldn’t have managed it. She switched on her aura vision and saw that his aura was flickering, rippling up and down. Was it just her, or did it seem darker than usual? Almost without thinking, she walked towards him and squeezed his shoulder before offering him her hand. She winced as he squeezed it- she was fairly certain she’d heard some bones break. He was far stronger than she’d realised. She heard a couple of whispers from behind her but ignored them. She doubted Erskine even knew she was there. Dr Anagram nodded at Fletcher and they disappeared. Fletcher returned and Erskine let go of her hand, instead reaching out for Fletcher. He teleported them back outside Ravel’s cell, pushed him in and closed the door. He sank down against it. 

“Ugh. That’s enough with the teleporting, please.”

“We still need you to teleport us out of here.” Fletcher groaned and stood up. He held out a hand to Valkyrie.

“You coming?” She looked back at Ravel’s cell and then took Fletcher’s outstretched hand. 

“Yeah, sure.” They disappeared. 

A day later, she and Skulduggery were back in the High Sanctuary when her phone chimed again. She opened it up and found yet another text from Saracen. Skulduggery shrugged.

“Why are you shrugging now?” she asked.

“Because I thought you were going to shrug.”

“Why would you think that?”

“Because you said that shrugging was your natural response to texts from Saracen.”

“You said that.”

“And you agreed.”

“How do you know I was agreeing to that? I could have been agreeing with the man passing me.”

“What man?”

“I don’t know. I’m saying if there was a man.”

“But there wasn’t.”

“”There could have been. 

“But there wasn’t.”

“I- never mind. What did Saracen say?”

“Read it yourself.” Sighing, she opened it up.  _ serendipity on the road to recovery! dr anagram says she’ll be fine!  _ Saracen always ended sentences with exclamation marks, so she could never tell whether he was really excited or just...ending with an exclamation mark.

“So she’s gonna be ok. That’s good.” Valkyrie said. Skulduggery tilted his head, looking at her. She sighed again. He always knew what was up.

“You’re thinking about Ravel, aren’t you?” he asked. She was. She still felt- well, she wasn’t sure what she felt.

“I’m going to see him, and tell him about Serendipity.” She set off in the direction of his cell. She saw Skulduggery about to say something, and she cut him off. “I know what you’re going to say, but you can’t stop me. You saw him yesterday, Skulduggery. No one, not even Ravel, deserves that.”

“Actually, I was just going to say maybe we should get Fletcher?” She blinked.

“Oh. Ok then.” Fletcher appeared in front of them.

“Ravel?” They nodded. Fletcher teleported them to the corridor outside the cells, where they met up with Saracen and Dexter.

“Did you have the same idea?” They nodded. “Ok. The more the merrier, I suppose.” she said sarcastically. They made their way down the corridor and stopped outside the cell. It was three thirty. The door opened to reveal Erskine sat against the wall. So he hadn’t bothered to get up this time.

“Two visits in two days? Must be my lucky week.” he said, getting up. “What do you want?” He was swaying a little on his feet. She hadn’t noticed before, but he looked terrible. He was pale and thin, and there were dark circles under his eyes. He wasn’t angry, or anything like that- he was just...tired. He steadied himself against the wall, then raised an inquisitive face towards them.

“We just came to tell you that Dr Anagram said that Serendipity is on the road to recovery.” He sank back down against the wall. “Thank God.” he muttered, almost to himself. They started to turn around and leave, when he said, “Wait.” They turned around. “I just...I just wanted to thank you. You hate me, and yet you still saved her.”

“We wouldn’t let an innocent die, no matter who she...associates with.” Saracen said, not even bothering to hide the animosity in his voice. Erskine gave a tired smile.

“I know.”

“Erskine...what is she to you?” Valkyrie asked, unable to contain her curiosity. He leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes.

“Everything,” he whispered. 


	5. Chapter 4

Diamante Nova tried- and failed- to push the large grand piano off her, then sank back down to the ground. She’d been walking to Corrival Academy when the piano had, quite literally, fallen on top of her. She wasn’t sure where it had come from, but she sure knew where it was now. She could have played it- and quite well, too- if it hadn’t been currently residing on top of her legs and hips. She didn’t think any bones had been broken- at least, not that she could feel. There were going to be bruises though. That much she knew. She groaned. This was not how she had envisioned the day going. Voices came from around the corner and she tried to say something, but she couldn’t make a single sound. She had to trust that they would see her- she wasn’t exactly unnoticeable. Listening out for the voices, she recognised one of them. Skulduggery Pleasant. So the female voice with him must be...Valkyrie Cain. The infamous Skeleton Detective and his equally infamous partner. This day was just getting better and better. She heard Valkyrie say,  
“I think I found the piano.” They came closer.  
“I wonder how it got here.” She interrupted Skulduggery, finding her voice.  
“Hey.”  
“Must have been an exceptionally powerful Elemental.”  
“Hello?”  
“We’ll have to look into it. I wonder...”  
“Hey, dude with the skull! You gonna stand there wondering any longer or you gonna come help me?” He looked at her, as though noticing her for the first time, and she rolled her eyes. He snapped his palm open and the piano flew off her, crashing into the street a few metres away. She winced at the discordant noise produced by eighty-eight piano keys crashing at the same time. She tried to get up, and realised that her predictions had been right- there were no broken bones. Her legs were a mess though- black and blue and covered in bruises blossoming all over them.  
“How did you not break any bones? That thing looks heavy.” Valkyrie asked in confusion. Diamante shrugged.   
“Lucky, I guess. I’ll be fine from here. I’ve been through worse.”  
“No, you had better come back to the High Sanctuary with us. A doctor can see to you there.” Skulduggery said. A trace of confusion flickered across Valkyrie’s face. Diamante sighed. So she had intrigued him. Why could she never stay out of trouble? Reluctantly, she walked back to the High Sanctuary with the two Arbiters, where they were met- joy of joys- by none other than Dexter Vex and Saracen Rue, who kept pace with them as they made their way into a room with a few seats in it. Literally. That was it. Dexter frowned when he saw her properly.  
“What happened to you?”  
“Piano fell on me.” He whistled.  
“Rough. I’ve had a couple pianos fall on me in my life, and it was not a pleasant experience.”  
“I second that.” Diamante replied. “Hey, weren’t there seven of you before? What happened to the other four?” They looked immediately uncomfortable.   
“Valkyrie replaced Larrikin and Hopeless, Ghastly and Anton were murdered by Erskine, and Erskine is currently in custodiam.” The way in which Dexter said ‘currently’ suggested that it was soon going to become a past tense sentence. Her voice hardened a little.  
“Oh, sorry. I heard about that. I put my foot in it, didn’t I?”  
“Moving on, why were you going to Corrival Academy in the middle of the morning?” Saracen asked. Saracen just knew stuff.  
“I was hoping to enrol. I know it’s a bit unorthodox but I’ve just moved here from Oxford.”  
“We can enrol you from here, can’t we?” Skulduggery looked around at everyone. Now all of them were looking bemused. Saracen nodded slowly.   
“I think so. Name?”  
“Diamante Nova.”  
“Do you have a magic discipline?”  
“No, I haven’t had my Surge yet.”  
“What are you thinking of being?”  
“I’m fairly certain that’s not a necessary question but sure. I might be an Elemental, or maybe a Necromancer.”  
“Interesting. We don’t get many wanting to be Necromancers. And you’re right, that was just to satisfy my curiosity. Age?”  
“Seventeen, eighteen in a couple of months. January first is my birthday.”  
“I never liked this question. Parent or guardian?” Here Diamante floundered a little.  
“I’m an orphan,” she ended up with.  
“Adoptive parents…?”  
“An adoptive father.” She gulped. Of course that wouldn’t be enough. She’d have to give a name. Ah well. It was nice while it lasted.  
“Name?”  
“Um...Erskine Ravel.” she said in a very low voice, so quiet she could hardly be heard. They sat up straight. Was it just her imagination or did Skulduggery look satisfied with her answer, like he’d known all along. Looks were exchanged, and she tried to follow the silent conversation they seemed to be having. Finally Saracen spoke up.  
“We’ll enrol you, but we’ll be keeping a close eye on you,” he said bluntly. She nodded, probably over-eagerly, then a thought struck her.  
“Can I- can I see him?” They didn’t need to ask which ‘him’ she meant. They glanced at each other, then Saracen spoke again. He’d done most of the speaking so far.  
“I’m not sure-“  
“Please. Only for a little while. Then I won’t bother you again.” Glances were again exchanged. She was really getting tired of this non-verbal communication.  
“I...suppose...”  
“Thank you. This means a lot. I can wait there if you prefer?” Diamante said, not giving Saracen a chance to finish his sentence. He checked his watch.  
“It’s nowhere near three fifteen yet.”  
“That’s fine. I would prefer to wait there than here.”  
“That’ll work. You want to go now?” Skulduggery replied. Now everyone, including Diamante, was completely confused. She nodded slowly. They started walking.  
“So how did you end up with Erskine Ravel as your father?” Skulduggery asked in a friendly tone. Now she was really getting worried.  
“Um… he found me when I was four. I was kinda disorientated, confused. He seemed like someone I could trust.”  
“Proved you wrong?” Dexter said from behind her. She opened her mouth, then closed it. She wanted to say no, but couldn’t. So instead she deflected the question.  
“Being a four year old wasn’t my natural state. He helped a lot.”  
“What was your natural state?” Valkyrie asked from her right. Diamante was beginning to feel a little uncomfortable.  
“Umm..three hundred and something. Some crazy Crenga decided to experiment on me and lo and behold turned me into a four year old.” Diamante replied.   
“Dr Nye?” Diamante nodded. “Thought so.” Diamante folded her arms. She wasn’t enjoying the inquisition they seemed intent on delivering. For all she knew, they’d actually learned from the Spanish Inquisition. Whatever the reason, it was certainly working. They stopped abruptly, and she almost ran into Skulduggery. He pointed.  
“Second one down. We’ll be back at three fifteen to open the door.”  
“But can’t they just-” Skulduggery interrupted Valkyrie.  
“Three fifteen.” They turned and walked away, leaving Diamante on her own. She wasted no time in running to the cell and checked her watch. She settled down against the door. The clock was ticking.


	6. Chapter 5

Valkyrie glared at Skulduggery. He was purposefully keeping one step ahead of her and walking very fast, so that she couldn’t stop him to ask what was going on with him. In the end she put on a burst of speed and stopped right in front of him. He repositioned his hat.

“You’re blocking my way,” he said mildly. She rolled her eyes.

“That’s sort of the point.”

“Was there something you wanted?”

“Yes! An explanation! You suddenly start being all nice and friendly to this random stranger, who, let’s not forget, is  _ Ravel’s daughter! _ ” 

“Adopted daughter.”

“Semantics.”

“Am I not allowed to be friendly, then?”

“I know that look. You have a plan.”

“That is correct. We leave them alone, then go and listen in from the cameras.” Valkyrie frowned. 

“Are we even allowed to do that?”

“We’re Arbiters, Val. We can do whatever we want.” She nodded. 

“Fair point. And until then? Do you have another plan?”

“I do indeed.” He pulled her into a nearby coffee shop.

“And that is…?”

“We wait.” Valkyrie sighed. She didn’t like waiting. 

Hours later, and a whole lot of coffees later too, Skulduggery looked at his watch and announced that it was time to be heading back. She got up thankfully, glared at the waitress who was watching them suspiciously- who also, incidentally, busied herself with wiping a table within an inch of its existence under the force of Valkyrie’s glare- and followed Skulduggery into the street. Once again, they met Dexter and Saracen at the entrance to the High Sanctuary. This was really beginning to become a habit. They didn’t say anything as they fell into step beside them. Reaching the corridor, they saw that Diamante had fallen asleep, her platinum blonde hair falling in soft waves around her face. Dexter moved to wake her, but Skulduggery stopped him, instead walking softly as though careful not to wake her. Valkyrie understood. He wanted to see Erskine’s reaction. Unlocking the door, he opened it. Erskine looked up and rolled his eyes.

“You again? Third time’s a charm, I guess.” Saracen narrowed his eyes.

“Actually, it’s three strikes, you’re out.” he said. Erskine tried to get up, failed, closed his eyes, opened them and tried again. This time, he managed to stumble to the doorway and lean against it. Valkyrie wasn’t sure whether it was just her imagination but his golden eyes seemed to have dimmed and lost some of their colour. Other than that, the rest of his outward appearance hadn’t seemed to change at all. He looked at them, waiting for someone to say something...and then his gaze landed on Diamante. More specifically, on the mess that was her legs. Gone was any trace of tiredness, or dullness. He went cold with fury. His eyes narrowed, and it looked like they flashed red for a moment. Valkyrie was actually scared of him, until she remembered the situation.

“What did you do?” he said. Somehow, the coldness of his voice was worse than if he’d been shouting. They looked at each other.

“ _ We _ didn’t do anything.”

“If I find out that you hurt her in any way, I swear you will regret it for the rest of your lives.”

“What are you going to do from in there?” Dexter snapped. Ravel’s hand started glowing. Valkyrie frowned.

“How are you doing that? Your magic is supposed to be restrained.” He cocked his head.

“I’m a lot more powerful than you realise.”

“You used the Accelerator.” Skulduggery said from behind her. Ravel stared.

“That,” he said, “would have been an incredibly stupid thing to do.” Saracen frowned.

“You mean you didn’t? But the Engineer said-” Ravel shrugged.

“No one else was in the room where it happened.” As she was trying to puzzle out the meaning of that statement, they all heard a sound from the floor.

“Oh, wait. I must have fallen asleep. What’s the ti-” Diamante brushed her hair out of her face and saw them all standing there. She hurriedly got up. “Sorry.” She saw Erskine and completely bypassed the rest of them, heading straight for him. He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. “It wasn’t my fault this time! I swear!” she said defensively. “A piano fell on me!” He looked at her in silence a little more, then seemed to accept that.

“Believable enough.”

“But look at you! The student becomes the master!” He frowned. 

“What?”

“I’m proud of you! You managed to get into a whole load of trouble and you didn’t even need any help from me!” Dexter snorted, then covered it up with a cough. She looked at them. She had bright violet eyes, Valkyrie noticed. “Why are you still here? Go on! Get! Shoo!” This time it was Erskine who stifled a laugh. “That’s my girl,” she heard him mutter. Grudgingly, they walked away, and the door clanged shut behind them. Immediately, Skulduggery quickened his pace. He led the way to the camera room- wait. There was a camera room?

“There’s a camera room?”

“There is now.” he said. Vague as usual. He looked through the various screens and alighted on the one that showed Ravel’s cell. They settled down to watch. Ravel laughed. Diamante laughed. She punched him lightly on the shoulder. And Valkyrie realised the problem.

“Are you going to turn the sound on?” Skulduggery pressed a button and sound appeared.

“-you scared?” Diamante asked. Erskine smiled sadly.

“Dia, I imagine death so much it feels more like a memory. When’s it gonna get me, in my sleep or seven feet ahead of me? If I see it coming, do I run or do I let it be? Is it like a beat without a melody? Can I be real for a second? For just a millisecond? Dying is easy, Dia. Living is harder. ”

“The world was wide enough-” she started quietly.

“-for both them and me. I survived but I paid for it.” he finished. “Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saints, it takes and it takes and it takes and we keep living anyway. We rise and we fall and we break and we make our mistakes. And if there's a reason I'm still alive when so many have died, well. I'm willing to wait for it.”

“Yeah. I guess.” They carried on talking until Ravel looked at the clock and told her it was time to leave. He looked down, then up again.

“I met your mother once, after I found you.”

“You did? But… I thought-”

“I know. I should have told you earlier. But do you know what she told me?” Diamante shook her head. “ She told me: ‘I'll make the world safe and sound for you, I'll bleed and fight for you, I'll make it right for you.’ And do you know what I said?” Again Diamante shook her head. “I said: ‘If we lay a strong enough foundation, then we'll pass it on to you, we'll give the world to you, and someday you'll blow us all away.’” Diamante got up and hugged him.

“I don’t want to leave.” she said.

“I know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry too,” he whispered. The door clanged shut, and Diamante sank down against it and cried.


	7. Chapter 6

Diamante walked through the corridors, head down. Somehow, the news that she was Ravel’s daughter had spread through the school, and she was being met with blatant animosity from most of the students. Conversations died down when she passed and glares followed her around. She rolled her eyes. This was a bit overdramatic. Words like ‘freak’ and ‘traitor’ tickled at her mind, but she stubbornly batted them away. She had more important things to focus on. She tugged at the tie around her neck. The uniform wasn’t her favourite thing to wear, but it was better than attempting to fight someone in six-inch heels and a tight dress. Which, incidentally, she had also done. But that was in her memories from the Before- what she called her life before getting the whole split personality thing. They weren’t what she needed now. She’d already searched through them for any kind of clue, but even her three hundred and something years weren’t able to provide her with the answer. What was the use of having a freakishly long life if she couldn’t answer even the simplest of questions?  
To be fair, it wasn’t exactly simple but sure. Poetic licence. Also there were two questions. But now was not the time to focus on semantics. She headed to the library. Libraries were essential for day-to-day life. She reached the library, put her hand on the door and the bell rang. She sighed.

“Seriously?” Turning, she made her way back to the classroom. The door was open and students were streaming in. She took a desk right at the front and in the middle, as she knew that that was going to be the least desirable desk, and so she had no chance of being pushed aside. She was right. No one tried to take her desk, although she got a couple of nasty glares from the people on either side of her. The teacher swept in and closed the door behind her.

“Good morning,” Diamante said in an attempt to gauge the attitudes of the teachers. The teacher glared at her and said nothing. Great. Even the teachers hated her.

“Today,” the teacher began, “We’ll be doing something a little more unorthodox. Does anyone know who Macabre Nightshade was?” No hands went up. Diamante’s eyes widened. Macabre was a bit much for a school class. “No? Ok. Macabre Nightshade was the daughter of Nefarian Serpine, and an incredibly powerful sorcerer. There were rumours that she knew her true name, but that has never been proven. After her Surge, she was the only sorcerer aside from Merlin- I don’t want to hear anyone telling me he was a myth, yes he existed- to be able to perform any magic disciplines. She was invincible.”  
A girl with dark brown hair raised her hand. “Yes?”

“That was a good thing, but I’m getting the feeling that there’s a but coming.”

“Correct. She was a sadistic, twisted person, worse than any of the Three Generals. That would be why none of you know about her. She is a subject best avoided. But I believe that only by knowing can we get past the horrors in our past. Besides, you’re old enough. So here goes. Macabre was born in 1671 to Nefarian Serpine, mother unknown. Even as a young child, she displayed signs of cold-blooded cruelty. This only grew, and her ruthless nature proved to be helpful to Mevolent’s cause. She tortured people for the fun of it and laughed whilst doing it. Serpine is said to have controlled her, but in truth she was a force of nature. There was no controlling her. Apparently, she let all eight of the Dead Men go after having captured them purely for the fun of hunting them down again. She died in 1918 at a battle in Wales. It took all the Dead Men, the Diablerie and the Exigency Program to kill her. That was the only time the Diablerie and the Dead Men ever worked together.” Liar. What about Abyssinia? Diamante was feeling distinctly uncomfortable. She couldn’t wait for the lesson to be over. She drummed her fingers on the table.

“Is everything alright, Miss Nova?” the teacher said in a cold, detached voice.

“I just think that Macabre is a bit much for a school setting.” She heard voices from behind her.

“Coming from you...”

“That’s right. You can handle being related to Ravel and you can’t handle this?”

“Settle down, please.” The teacher said grudgingly. But a tiny smile on her face made Diamante worried. “How about we move on to something more modern? I’m sure you all know about the failed coup a few months ago, headed up by Erskine Ravel, former Grand Mage.” Diamante got up and walked calmly out of the classroom. She was not gonna listen to this any longer. A memory from Before jumped out at her- brought on by the lesson on Macabre, no doubt- and she stopped short. She didn’t understand how she had missed this. It was basic stuff, something that could have easily solved one of her problems, had she remembered earlier. She grinned, then her grin faded. Because now she had another problem to figure out. She sighed. She’d been thrown into the deep end and told ‘you’re on your own’. She had no one left to catch her when she fell. Her mother was dead, her father was...well. Her best friend hated her, her other best friend was dying- it was only a matter of time, maybe even a few weeks. Half the world wanted to stick a knife through her heart and the other half wanted her to make all the decisions. She decided that her problems could wait another hour, and hurried into the streets of Roarhaven, making her way to a small building that looked in dire need of sprucing up. She knocked on the door and was met with a scowling face.

“You. I should have known you’d appear sooner or later.”

“Ebony, please-”

“Don’t you ‘Ebony, please’ me. You’re a liar and a traitor, just like your father.” Diamante frowned.

“Do not use that against me.” She swept into the house and Ebony closed the door behind her. “Let’s focus on our common goal. How is he?” Ebony gestured into a room off the hallway, then stomped off in the opposite direction. Diamante sighed, and walked into the room where someone lay perfectly still in the bed. He’d been like this for months, not moving, not speaking, not reacting- nothing. Zorro was the only reason she and Ebony were even speaking to each other. She sat there for some time, telling him about the things that had happened in her life since she’d last been to see him, even though he couldn’t hear her. She shook her head. It was time to get going. She squeezed his hand and walked off quickly, surreptitiously wiping a tear from her eye. She didn’t look back. It was easier that way. And as the door closed behind her, Zorro blinked.


	8. Chapter 8

Valkyrie. Didn’t. Know. What. To. Think. On the one hand, she still hated Ravel with a passion but on the other hand, he’d tried to make sure that Ghastly and Anton weren’t gone permanently. She was so happy to see them again, and kinda ignored that fact that they’d  _ come back from the dead _ . Maybe it was just that she was used to hanging around with a literal skeleton, but it just didn’t really surprise her. She couldn’t wait to tell Tanith. For some insane reason, she was actually worrying about Ravel. It was probably just Diamante and her constant fidgeting and pacing. The nervous energy coming from her was enough to get everyone on edge. She was having a panic attack wrapped in an existential crisis with a side of anxiety. They’d been there for hours, talking at first, but then lapsing into silence. None of them wanted to be the first to leave. The door opened and the doctor- Dr Anagram- came in- she was really proving to be a miracle. She was never really surprised at any of her patients- or if she was, she didn’t show it. Diamante ran over to her so fast Valkyrie didn’t even see her move.

“How is he? Any change? He’s dead, isn’t he? OhmyGodIkilledmyownfather. Ho-” 

“Is she always like this?” Dr Anagram asked.

“We don’t know. We don’t yet know her well enough, but from what we’ve seen, no.” Skulduggery replied, talking over Diamante’s head.

“I am here, you know.” she said in an annoyed tone. Dr Anagram ignored her.

“I actually came to say that he’ll be fine.” Diamante sank into the nearest chair. “I mean-” here she sat up again. “- he's incredibly weak, dehydrated and malnourished, but that was to be expected, I assure you.” She sat back down. “I just hope he doesn’t wake up when he can’t leave the room. Most annoying person I have ever met.” the doctor finished.

“You speak like you know him.” Dexter said.

“Yes, he’s my cousin.” Silence. “And on that note, I’m gonna go…?” she said, walking out the door. She poked her head back in. “All of you need to get some sleep. Doctor’s orders. I’ll alert you if anything changes,” she said, directing the last part at Diamante. They all looked at her. She glared back, then rolled her eyes.

“Fine. You’re as bad as he is, honestly. But she said all, and I’m pretty sure she meant all of us.” Valkyrie sighed.

“I really don’t want to go back to Haggard tonight. Why do I have to live so far away?”

“It’s not that far.” Skulduggery said.

“I never said it was far, I just said it was too far.”

“I have a spare bed in my dorm room at Corrival if you want to stay in Roarhaven tonight.” Diamante said.

“Don’t you have a roommate?” Ghastly asked.

“My roommate is camping out in her friend’s room. Everyone hates me. It’s great.”

“Ok...moving on. That would be good, on one condition.” Valkyrie said, cutting through the conversation. Diamante looked at her inquisitively. “This is NOT a sleepover, or anything of that kind.” Diamante shuddered.

“What? God, no. That would be awful.”

“In that case, I think we’re going to get along well.” Valkyrie said with a smile.

“You’re up for sneaking through a window, right?” Diamante asked before leaving the room.

“Always. But...why can’t we just use the door?” Diamante arched an eyebrow.

“Because doors are for people with no imagination.” she said, to ensuing laughter from the Dead Men. “What?”

“That’s my line,” said Skulduggery. Diamante laughed. 

“Sorry. We’ll see you in the morning?” They agreed and went their separate ways. 

Valkyrie was woken by a bell in the morning. She looked up blearily to see that Diamante looked exactly the same as she had done last night, only she was reading a different book to the one that she’d been reading before. Valkyrie frowned.

“Did you sleep at all?” Diamante looked at her phone and shook her head.

“It’s Thursday. I only sleep Friday-Saturday and Tuesday-Wednesday.” Valkyrie swung her legs out of bed.

“Don’t you get tired?”

“I used to, but now I’ve trained my brain. I’ve had years to perfect the skill, after all, and I don’t like to waste my nights sleeping when I could be doing other stuff.” Interesting. Valkyrie hadn’t thought that was possible. She wondered if Diamante would teach her.

“Can you teach me how to do that?” she asked. Diamante thought for a moment, then shrugged.

“I don’t see why not. I probably won’t be a very good teacher though.” She walked to the door and peered out. “I’m gonna go sign in, throw them off the scent a while, and then I’ll be back.” Valkyrie nodded and Diamante left the room. Valkyrie could hear her footsteps receding down the corridor. She got changed quickly and then paced around the room, trying to figure out her life. On the one hand, there was Ravel, and on the other hand, there was Ravel, and on the third hand there was Diamante, and on the fourth hand there was Ghastly and Anton, and on the fifth hand- wait. When had she gotten to the fifth hand? She only had two, and those two were taken up by Ravel, so then she needed more, but where had she gotten those more from? Her mind twisted over itself as she tried to figure out the problem, focusing on that to ignore the other stuff crowding her mind. She faintly heard her name being called, and turned to see Diamante standing in the middle of the room with a concerned and slightly wary look on her face.

“Are you okay?” she asked, taking a slight step back.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. Just trying to figure out the problems faced by many-handed people.” Way to go, Valkyrie. How to assure the girl that you’re not going crazy. Diamante took another, larger, step back.

“Do I need to be worried? Is there someone I need to call…?” Valkyrie hurriedly shook her head.

“No, sorry. I’m just a little overwhelmed, what with everything that’s happening.” Diamante nodded understandingly.

“You ready to jump back in with the sharks?”

“Mhm.” Valkyrie looked out of the window. “Sorry, but how are we getting down?” They’d climbed up the drainpipe to get in, but Valkyrie couldn’t see how that was gonna work on the way down. Diamante grinned, and Valkyrie remembered what she’d thought when she’d first seen Diamante getting out from underneath that piano. She’d taken one look at those violet eyes and thought: this one is wild. Maybe it was the tiny sparkle in them, or the way they seemed to change colours with the light, or how it was difficult to tear her own away. They reminded her a little of Ravel’s, to be honest. Both people had that same wild glint in their eyes. Diamante jumped neatly out of the window and Valkyrie suppressed a gasp. Was she expected to follow her? ‘Cause she wasn’t quite sure….never mind. If Diamante could do it, so could she. She took a running jump and leapt out of the window before she could rethink her plan. Landing hard on her ankle, she winced in pain and turned to see Diamante calmly getting off some...contraption...attached to the drainpipe. As she let go, it sprang back up to rest just outside the window Valkyrie had just jumped out of. She began to understand how Diamante had jumped out the window so easily. Of course she was some science and mechanics genius too. Naturally. She winced as she put weight on her ankle. Diamante frowned and looked from the window to the ground.

“Did you  _ jump  _ out of the window?” she asked incredulously. Valkyrie felt herself begin to flush. 

“I didn’t know what you were gonna do!” she said defensively. “Did you build that?” She was changing the subject. Diamante nodded.

“It’s a simple matter of principle and elasticity.” Diamante carried on talking about some sciency stuff and Valkyrie nodded along, pretending to understand what she was saying. They got to the entrance of the High Sanctuary, where they were met- again- by Dexter and Saracen. 

“Okay, do you guys just stand and wait there every time you know I’m coming ‘cause this is getting a bit much,” Valkyrie said. Dexter laughed and followed her into the Sanctuary. They waited.


	9. Chapter 9

Waiting was not Valkyrie’s favourite activity. Every so often, someone would look as though they were about to leave, and she would think: finally. Now I can go. And every time, said person would sit back down again, dashing any hopes of escape. In the end, she got so bored that she decided to just go ahead and leave. She stood up and found that she had uncomfortable pins and needles in her legs.

“Ok, I’m gonna go stretch my legs and get some

air. Anyone coming?” They all shook their heads mutely. “Suit yourselves. And if he does decide to show up whilst I’m gone, then that just goes to show what an incredibly annoying person he is.”

She went over to the doorway, but didn’t make it very far before she met with a...familiar...face. Golden eyes met hers and widened a little. She’d been right- they had dulled. They were more of a brass than gold now. And that wild sparkle- the same one she’d seen in his daughter’s eyes- was gone. It was as though it was a copy of the real Erskine Ravel standing in front of her. She wasn’t sure whether to feel happy or sad about that. They stared at each other a while longer, before she turned on her heel and marched back into the room. Dexter looked like he was about to comment, but shut his mouth at the look on her face. He frowned instead, and seemed to be about to ask her something, when he was interrupted by a weak voice from the doorway.

“So,” Erskine said. “What’d I miss?” He sat down in an empty chair, almost stood up again, then thought better of it and looked round the room with an almost mutinous look on his face, as though daring them to make him get up. He then thought better of that as well, and tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. She almost felt sorry for him, he was that socially awkward right now. The doctor, Heather, as she’d told them to call her, came rushing in after him. She stopped and sank down into yet another empty chair- there were a lot of them in this room. 

“There you are. Why am I not surprised that you took the first chance you got to run off and no doubt get yourself into more trouble?” she said with a put-upon sigh but an affectionate tone. He grinned easily, seeming more at ease with her.

“That always was my forte,” he replied. Valkyrie noticed that his gaze was almost constantly flicking back and forth between them and the clock. For their sanity, they would have to remove all the clocks in the place before the constant movement set them all on edge. It was probably a reflex from his time spent in the cell. Diamante turned to Saracen with a sweet smile.

“Can you get me some water?” she asked. He frowned.

“Why me? Besides, I’m sure you can find your own.” 

“Oh, but I can blackmail you,” she said with a winning smile, turning to Dexter. “Hey, did you want to know what Saracen’s magic discipline is? Because-” Saracen stood up.

“Fine.” He walked out of the room and they could hear him grumbling to himself. Erskine gave a low laugh.

“That one’s finally met his match. This will be interesting to watch.” They turned to look at him sharply and he shrank back. Saracen walked back in with a glass of water and Ghastly lifted his arm to wave him over. Erskine flinched and crossed his arms over his chest, like he was trying to make himself a smaller target. Like he thought Ghastly was going to hurt him. A knock sounded on the door, and Ghastly called, “Come in.” A woman with dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders walked in. She wore a brown leather bracelet with a sun charm on it which she kept fingering. Diamante slumped down in her chair when she saw her, before sitting up again, a look of recognition that quickly passed going over her face. Erskine sat up sharply and stared. The woman, oblivious to both of these reactions, started talking. “I came to check whether Miss Nova was here. She’s been missing the past couple of school-'' she stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw Erskine. A look of the  _ deepest  _ animosity crossed her face, and she straight up glared. Erskine had a matching expression, his face stormy. Anton gestured between them 

“Do you two know each other?”

“Unfortunately,” they replied at the exact same time. The woman sat in a chair, still glaring at Erskine.

“Don’t worry about this, I’ve refereed these glaring matches for as long as I can remember. We had to set a few rules in place after the first few got a little destructive.” Heather said, leaning back in her chair.

“What are the rules?” Saracen asked curiously.

“No shouting, no getting up, no throwing anything, no insulting, no magic, in fact no moving at all if it can be helped.” Erskine and the woman said together, as though reciting off a sheet.

“How long do these things go on for?” Dexter muttered just loud enough for them to hear after waiting another five minutes with no change.

“The longest I’ve known lasted around seven hours. I got through the entirety of War and Peace whilst at it.” Dexter looked terrified. Heather stood up and clapped her hands. “Alright you two, cut it out! It’s been all of five minutes and you’re already at it. Be nice.”

“It’s nice to see you,  _ big bro _ .” The woman- Erskine’s sister- sneered, the sentiment clearly false.

“We can all tell that’s not true,  _ little sis _ .” he replied in the exact same tone. Heather sighed.

“Meet the chaotic Ravel siblings.” she said.

“Not anymore.” the woman said. Heather frowned.

“She dropped the Ravel from her name.” Erskine said. Heather looked at him sympathetically.

“You’re Eclipse Ravel, aren’t you?” Diamante said suddenly. “I feel like I’ve met you before.” Eclipse’s hand went to her bracelet, and Diamante nodded like that was what she’d been expecting. “Thought so.”

“Okay, anymore relatives want to spring out of hiding? What is this, the Erskine Ravel relatives convention?” Erskine said sardonically.

“Skulduggery is technically our very distant cousin.” Eclipse said. Their jaws dropped. There was silence before Erskine spoke again,

“Any more surprises you’d like to spring on me? Is anyone in this room not related to me?”

I’m not sure about Valkyrie but Saracen is like our nephew five times removed. Dexter is definitely not related though.” Eclipse opened her mouth to carry on and he shook his head. “I take that back, I don’t want to know.” She carried on talking anyway.

“And... Anton is like the third cousin of Heather’s mother’s sister’s stepdaughter and Ghastly is our other cousin.” Even more silence.

“You’re making this up.” Erskine said, looking positively terrified.

“She’s not. I remember my mother talking about her sister and her family sometimes. She mentioned you, but not your name.” Ghastly said. Erskine frowned.

“Then how d’you know it was me?”

“I didn’t then, but I knew the person she was talking about was Eclipse’s brother. So now I do, and you’re related to us.” A wide grin started to spread across everyone’s faces, and Erskine closed his eyes.

“You cannot be serious,” he muttered. Eclipse looked confused, but then realisation dawned and she started to grin even wider than the rest of them. “I can’t believe it. I may be wrong but it looks like you’re laughing at my pain.” Erskine said a little louder. An awkward silence descended. The way Erskine was drumming his fingers quietly on the arm of the chair suggested that he knew  _ exactly  _ what he’d said, even though his face betrayed no emotion.

“Well...it’s been nice talking to you. Not you, lever.” They all looked at him. He went back to glaring at Eclipse, who had a small smile on her face.

“Lever?” they all asked in confusion.

“‘Ravel’ backwards. Thinks she’s funny.” Saracen suddenly burst out laughing until he was practically rolling on the floor, tears of laughter falling down his face. Everyone who wasn’t a Dead Man stared in confusion, but the Dead Men just sighed and waited for him to finish.

“Are you  _ quite  _ finished?” Erskine said, rolling his eyes, when Saracen finally calmed down enough to articulate a full sentence. Saracen nodded, still laughing a little. 

“We should get going.” Eclipse said, gesturing to Diamante. Diamante sighed.

“Oh, but I’m technically your niece right? So you have to be nice to me.”

“Yeah, and you have to do what I say.” Eclipse shot back. Diamante looked pleadingly at Erskine, but no help was coming from that direction.

“Diamante.” he said. She rolled her eyes.

“Ugh. Fine.” she stood up and walked over to Eclipse, fingering a bracelet around her wrist. Valkyrie noticed that it was almost the same as Eclipse’s, except with a crescent moon charm. Coincidence? Maybe. She filed the information away for later. Erskine also stood up and looked around the room.

“We should probably get going too.” They frowned.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Valkyrie said. He looked confused.

“I thought you were going to want to take me back to my cell, but if you’ve changed your minds, I’m happy with that.” They all stood up too.

“Not likely. Come on. Eclipse, you coming?” Dexter said, throwing a smile at her.

“Dude, no flirting with my sister.” Erskine muttered. Eclipse made a face at him, but Valkyrie noticed a blush rising on her cheeks. They left the Room of Empty Chairs- which was what Valkyrie had decided to call the room that seemed to have an endless supply of empty chairs- and made their way down the corridor.


	10. Chapter 10

Waiting was not Valkyrie’s favourite activity. Every so often, someone would look as though they were about to leave, and she would think: finally. Now I can go. And every time, said person would sit back down again, dashing any hopes of escape. In the end, she got so bored that she decided to just go ahead and leave. She stood up and found that she had uncomfortable pins and needles in her legs.

“Ok, I’m gonna go stretch my legs and get some

air. Anyone coming?” They all shook their heads mutely. “Suit yourselves. And if he does decide to show up whilst I’m gone, then that just goes to show what an incredibly annoying person he is.”

She went over to the doorway, but didn’t make it very far before she met with a...familiar...face. Golden eyes met hers and widened a little. She’d been right- they had dulled. They were more of a brass than gold now. And that wild sparkle- the same one she’d seen in his daughter’s eyes- was gone. It was as though it was a copy of the real Erskine Ravel standing in front of her. She wasn’t sure whether to feel happy or sad about that. They stared at each other a while longer, before she turned on her heel and marched back into the room. Dexter looked like he was about to comment, but shut his mouth at the look on her face. He frowned instead, and seemed to be about to ask her something, when he was interrupted by a weak voice from the doorway.

“So,” Erskine said. “What’d I miss?” He sat down in an empty chair, almost stood up again, then thought better of it and looked round the room with an almost mutinous look on his face, as though daring them to make him get up. He then thought better of that as well, and tried to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. She almost felt sorry for him, he was that socially awkward right now. The doctor, Heather, as she’d told them to call her, came rushing in after him. She stopped and sank down into yet another empty chair- there were a lot of them in this room. 

“There you are. Why am I not surprised that you took the first chance you got to run off and no doubt get yourself into more trouble?” she said with a put-upon sigh but an affectionate tone. He grinned easily, seeming more at ease with her.

“That always was my forte,” he replied. Valkyrie noticed that his gaze was almost constantly flicking back and forth between them and the clock. For their sanity, they would have to remove all the clocks in the place before the constant movement set them all on edge. It was probably a reflex from his time spent in the cell. Diamante turned to Saracen with a sweet smile.

“Can you get me some water?” she asked. He frowned.

“Why me? Besides, I’m sure you can find your own.” 

“Oh, but I can blackmail you,” she said with a winning smile, turning to Dexter. “Hey, did you want to know what Saracen’s magic discipline is? Because-” Saracen stood up.

“Fine.” He walked out of the room and they could hear him grumbling to himself. Erskine gave a low laugh.

“That one’s finally met his match. This will be interesting to watch.” They turned to look at him sharply and he shrank back. Saracen walked back in with a glass of water and Ghastly lifted his arm to wave him over. Erskine flinched and crossed his arms over his chest, like he was trying to make himself a smaller target. Like he thought Ghastly was going to hurt him. A knock sounded on the door, and Ghastly called, “Come in.” A woman with dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders walked in. She wore a brown leather bracelet with a sun charm on it which she kept fingering. Diamante slumped down in her chair when she saw her, before sitting up again, a look of recognition that quickly passed going over her face. Erskine sat up sharply and stared. The woman, oblivious to both of these reactions, started talking. “I came to check whether Miss Nova was here. She’s been missing the past couple of school-'' she stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw Erskine. A look of the  _ deepest  _ animosity crossed her face, and she straight up glared. Erskine had a matching expression, his face stormy. Anton gestured between them 

“Do you two know each other?”

“Unfortunately,” they replied at the exact same time. The woman sat in a chair, still glaring at Erskine.

“Don’t worry about this, I’ve refereed these glaring matches for as long as I can remember. We had to set a few rules in place after the first few got a little destructive.” Heather said, leaning back in her chair.

“What are the rules?” Saracen asked curiously.

“No shouting, no getting up, no throwing anything, no insulting, no magic, in fact no moving at all if it can be helped.” Erskine and the woman said together, as though reciting off a sheet.

“How long do these things go on for?” Dexter muttered just loud enough for them to hear after waiting another five minutes with no change.

“The longest I’ve known lasted around seven hours. I got through the entirety of War and Peace whilst at it.” Dexter looked terrified. Heather stood up and clapped her hands. “Alright you two, cut it out! It’s been all of five minutes and you’re already at it. Be nice.”

“It’s nice to see you,  _ big bro _ .” The woman- Erskine’s sister- sneered, the sentiment clearly false.

“We can all tell that’s not true,  _ little sis _ .” he replied in the exact same tone. Heather sighed.

“Meet the chaotic Ravel siblings.” she said.

“Not anymore.” the woman said. Heather frowned.

“She dropped the Ravel from her name.” Erskine said. Heather looked at him sympathetically.

“You’re Eclipse Ravel, aren’t you?” Diamante said suddenly. “I feel like I’ve met you before.” Eclipse’s hand went to her bracelet, and Diamante nodded like that was what she’d been expecting. “Thought so.”

“Okay, anymore relatives want to spring out of hiding? What is this, the Erskine Ravel relatives convention?” Erskine said sardonically.

“Skulduggery is technically our very distant cousin.” Eclipse said. Their jaws dropped. There was silence before Erskine spoke again,

“Any more surprises you’d like to spring on me? Is anyone in this room not related to me?”

I’m not sure about Valkyrie but Saracen is like our nephew five times removed. Dexter is definitely not related though.” Eclipse opened her mouth to carry on and he shook his head. “I take that back, I don’t want to know.” She carried on talking anyway.

“And... Anton is like the third cousin of Heather’s mother’s sister’s stepdaughter and Ghastly is our other cousin.” Even more silence.

“You’re making this up.” Erskine said, looking positively terrified.

“She’s not. I remember my mother talking about her sister and her family sometimes. She mentioned you, but not your name.” Ghastly said. Erskine frowned.

“Then how d’you know it was me?”

“I didn’t then, but I knew the person she was talking about was Eclipse’s brother. So now I do, and you’re related to us.” A wide grin started to spread across everyone’s faces, and Erskine closed his eyes.

“You cannot be serious,” he muttered. Eclipse looked confused, but then realisation dawned and she started to grin even wider than the rest of them. “I can’t believe it. I may be wrong but it looks like you’re laughing at my pain.” Erskine said a little louder. An awkward silence descended. The way Erskine was drumming his fingers quietly on the arm of the chair suggested that he knew  _ exactly  _ what he’d said, even though his face betrayed no emotion.

“Well...it’s been nice talking to you. Not you, lever.” They all looked at him. He went back to glaring at Eclipse, who had a small smile on her face.

“Lever?” they all asked in confusion.

“‘Ravel’ backwards. Thinks she’s funny.” Saracen suddenly burst out laughing until he was practically rolling on the floor, tears of laughter falling down his face. Everyone who wasn’t a Dead Man stared in confusion, but the Dead Men just sighed and waited for him to finish.

“Are you  _ quite  _ finished?” Erskine said, rolling his eyes, when Saracen finally calmed down enough to articulate a full sentence. Saracen nodded, still laughing a little. 

“We should get going.” Eclipse said, gesturing to Diamante. Diamante sighed.

“Oh, but I’m technically your niece right? So you have to be nice to me.”

“Yeah, and you have to do what I say.” Eclipse shot back. Diamante looked pleadingly at Erskine, but no help was coming from that direction.

“Diamante.” he said. She rolled her eyes.

“Ugh. Fine.” she stood up and walked over to Eclipse, fingering a bracelet around her wrist. Valkyrie noticed that it was almost the same as Eclipse’s, except with a crescent moon charm. Coincidence? Maybe. She filed the information away for later. Erskine also stood up and looked around the room.

“We should probably get going too.” They frowned.

“You’re not going anywhere.” Valkyrie said. He looked confused.

“I thought you were going to want to take me back to my cell, but if you’ve changed your minds, I’m happy with that.” They all stood up too.

“Not likely. Come on. Eclipse, you coming?” Dexter said, throwing a smile at her.

“Dude, no flirting with my sister.” Erskine muttered. Eclipse made a face at him, but Valkyrie noticed a blush rising on her cheeks. They left the Room of Empty Chairs- which was what Valkyrie had decided to call the room that seemed to have an endless supply of empty chairs- and made their way down the corridor.


	11. Chapter 11

Erskine opened his eyes, squinting in the bright sunlight coming through the window. He still wasn’t used to so much light- it hurt his eyes after the darkness he’d spent the past few months in. He missed that- the feel of sunlight on his skin and the cool October breeze that rustled the trees. He couldn’t really care less about everything else. Aside from his family. Eclipse, Heather, Serendipity. Diamante. His daughter. He still remembered when he’d found her wandering around the roadside in Oxford on New Year’s Day. He’d been so close to giving her to a foster home but something had stopped him every time. Maybe it was the way she seemed so mature for her age, or how she reminded him of himself as a child. Or maybe it was her eyes. They were a piercing violet. They reminded him of Serendipity.

He heard someone come in and pretended to be asleep, as the bed was one of the more comfortable places he’d been in the past few months and he didn’t feel like moving yet. The person came and sat beside him. A familiar hand brushed lightly over his arm before settling on his hand. Eclipse. What did she want?

“Hi.” No response from him. Eclipse was the one person he would trust over anyone, even over Serendipity, but she hated him. He couldn’t be sure. She sighed. “Look, I get that I’ve been mad at you for the past fifty years or so, but I need you to wake up. I don’t wanna be mad at you any longer. You’ve got enough on your plate as it is. And...and I need you to wake up. Please. Come back to me.” He knew then that he couldn’t pretend any longer. He turned to face her.

“I never left, Kitten.” She started in surprise, then mock frowned.

“We’re back to that again?” she said.

“Hey, you embarrassed me in front of literally everyone who’s opinion I care about.” He frowned for a moment. “To be fair, that kind of went out the window when I turned into evil criminal psycho mastermind, but that’s just semantics.” Eclipse giggled. He smiled. He hadn’t heard his little sister laugh in a long time. He sat up, a little dizzy but that soon went away, then swung his legs out of bed to face Eclipse. “Okay, Kitten. What’s wrong?” He’d been able to tell that something was wrong the moment she sat down. He was attuned to her like that. She looked down at her hands.

“I’m just scared. And more than a little confused. And I don’t know what I want to do with my life anymore. I mean, I like being a teacher, but I don’t want to teach history. It’s just too personal. And you keep nearly dying and it’s not fair. And I feel really alone, and the Dead Men don’t like me or trust me or both. I don’t know. And...and I need my brother back.” She fiddled with the bracelet around her wrist. He frowned. He’d take it up with them later- nobody, not even the Dead Men, was allowed to make his sister feel bad- but right now, he needed to be there, however briefly, for his little sister. He caught glimpses of the little girl she’d been when the hurricane had struck, and the confused teenager when their mother died. And in truth, he needed his sister back too.

“I’m always here for you. You know that, right?” She nodded, and moved to sit beside him. He pulled her close, and she drew her knees up and leaned her head on his shoulder, the way she used to after a bad dream when she was younger. Heather walked in, then immediately walked back out again. She knew how much their relationship meant. He heard her talking to someone outside- Dexter, it seemed.

“I can’t find Eclipse. Have you seen her?” he asked. Erskine almost laughed. It was painfully obvious that Dexter had a thing for Eclipse.To be honest, he could see it working. Setting aside the fact that Erskine was incredibly protective of his little sister. He wondered what Heather was going to say. He didn’t particularly want to be disturbed.

“Eclipse is fine.” Heather said. Despite her efforts, it was clear that they weren’t to have the peace and quiet for much longer, given Dexter’s next words.

“And Erskine?”

“Awake. Is Ivory still adamant that she’ll only talk to him?”

“Yes, unfortunately.” they entered the room and Eclipse stood up after a gentle push from him.

“I have to stay for a couple of check-ups, right Heather?” She looked between Dexter and Eclipse and hurriedly nodded. “So you go with Dexter, Kitten, and Heather and I will follow.” She stepped on his foot, and he had to hide a smile. She walked over to Dexter and they left the room.

“I wouldn’t have thought you’d be the one to try and set her up with someone.” Heather said, arching an eyebrow.

“I know I’m her older brother, but Dex is a good guy. I can trust him. And besides, she needs a little happiness in her life.”

“You’re a good brother, you know that, right?”

“No, I’m not. A good brother wouldn’t have done what I did.” Heather smiled sadly, like she didn’t believe him, and offered him her arm. He took it, realising when he got to his feet that he wouldn’t be able to walk for a long time without assistance. “How long until I can walk properly again?”

“Hopefully not too long. You’re still quite weak, as you didn’t have time to recover from the past few months before getting yourself stabbed.” 

“Fine. Where are we going?” he asked.

“To see Ivory. She’s adamant that she’ll only talk to you.”

“I don’t know why that would be.” he said, in response to her unspoken question. They walked in silence a little longer, before he realised something. The path they were taking would lead them past his old cell. Heather realised that at the exact same time, and faltered, but it was too late now. He stopped outside it, memories flooding in. He forgot where he was, and for a moment he was back in that cell, pain rolling through his body, impossible to stop, to lessen, the clock constantly ticking above him until the sound was all he knew, all he could think about. He was dimly aware of someone calling his name, and with great difficulty pulled himself away from the sinkhole of memories. He noticed that everyone was now staring at him, having met them here. He brushed Heather aside, finding the strength to walk.

“Sorry.” he muttered. “Where’s Ivory?” They noticed his change of subject, but let it go. Diamante looked at him with a concerned look on her face. He hadn’t wanted to worry her. They led him to a room where Ivory was sitting behind a table. He sat opposite her, and she smiled like they were still friends.

“Hello Erskine. How are you doing?”

“I’d rather skip the pleasantries, let's go.”

“We’re friends, though. I mean, I’m your daughter’s best friend.”

“You lost that status when you tried to assassinate Ghastly. I’m still having a little trouble processing that, so I would say you should answer our questions, seeing as you’re not my favourite person right now, and my magic is no longer restrained.” Something akin to fear crossed her face, but she quickly hid it.

“What do you want to know?”

“Who are you working for?” Erskine asked. That was clearly the crucial piece of information. She grinned, but he didn’t know why.

“Well...that’s someone very interesting. A Sensitive.” He rolled his eyes.

“Names, powers?” She drew it out, clearly enjoying this, although he didn’t know why.

“Well. This...person...specialises in memory.” Erskine paled. “He’s called-” she stopped here, drawing out the pause, watching Erskine’s realisation. “- Mnemosyn.” Diamante, Heather and Eclipse all gasped, and Erskine looked terrified. 

“No, no, no.” he whispered over and over again. He was past reasoning with. Ivory giggled, and that threw Eclipse over the edge. She threw a stream of energy at her, not enough to kill her but enough to make her feel discomfort.

“YOU TRAITOR!” she screamed. “WHAT DO YOU GET OUT OF THIS, HUH? DO YOU JUST ENJOY MAKING PEOPLE FEEL LIKE HELL BECAUSE YOU LACK THE BRAIN CELLS TO DO ANYTHING ELSE? I HOPE YOU DIE SLOWLY AND PAINFULLY, AND WHEN YOU DO, I’LL BE WATCHING AND LAUGHING MY HEAD OFF!” Diamante and Heather didn’t look like they were planning to stop her anytime soon. Dexter, the only other Energy Thrower in the group, stepped forward to cut off the flow and pull her back with the group. She shook him off and grabbed Erskine, who allowed himself to be pulled backwards and the siblings disappeared from sight. Ivory lay on the ground panting. The door slammed shut, and they heard her psychotic laugh echoing down the corridor.


	12. Chapter 12

Eclipse pushed her brother down into a chair as Diamante and Heather came rushing in. The three of them were the only ones who knew the truth about Mnemosyn- although she thought that there was someone else he’d told, but she didn’t know who. Ivory clearly knew, but that made sense as she was working for Mnemosyn himself. Something she wasn’t sure about was why Mnemosyn had told Ivory to assassinate Ghastly, although she had some ideas. 

“Guys. I’ve been thinking.” Diamante said. They turned to see her watching Erskine with a thoughtful look on her face that didn’t seem to match her age. It was difficult sometimes to remember that she wasn’t seventeen like she seemed. She flicked her hair over her shoulder- something she did a lot- and leaned forward. Eclipse tried not to feel prejudiced towards her. Diamante reminded her so much of her best friend from during the War- even down to the way she flicked her hair over her shoulder all the time. Even down to the way she thought. Eclipse kept on thinking that she was seeing her best friend, only to be reminded that her best friend was dead. Killed by her own brother. She’d forgiven him, but that didn’t stop her from not forgetting about it.

“Go ahead,” Heather said, and Eclipse was drawn back into the present. She’d almost forgotten about Diamante.

“Well,” Diamante said, and here she lowered her voice. “I was wondering whether Ghastly was a cover-up, and Mnemosyn had another reason for sending Ivory, of all people. Remember how the cloaking sphere fell to the ground without any obvious reason? And how Ivory was adamant that she would only talk to Erskine? And how she allowed herself to be captured so easily- because I know her, and believe me, she is not easy to capture. She’s also a Wall-Walker, so yeah.” Eclipse began to see where Diamante was going.

“You think he was trying to get at Erskine?” she asked. Really, she was so familiar with these patterns of thought that she could predict what Diamante was going to say before she even said it. Diamante looked surprised.

“Yes. How did you figure that out?” 

“You remind me a little,” a lot, “-of my best friend, who died during the war. She thought much the same as you.” Diamante looked uncomfortable. A small part of Eclipse relished that, but she pushed it down firmly. It wasn’t the poor girl’s fault, after all. The rest of the group came in, looking distinctly confused, and Dexter sat down beside her. She  _ almost  _ blushed. Almost. She noticed Heather and Diamante side-eyeing her- Diamante actually winked- and groaned inwardly. She was in for a long and uncomfortable conversation later, but now wasn’t the time. She checked on Erskine, and her worries immediately came rushing back in. He was staring at the wall, no emotion on his face. He was physically present, but his mind was far away. She knew that it was nowhere good. She moved to sit beside him, and noticed that Dexter looked faintly disappointed for a moment. She almost smiled as she saw his friends watching him. It looked like she wasn't the only one in for a long and uncomfortable conversation later. She flicked her hair over her shoulder- a habit she’d picked up from her best friend- and tugged on her brother’s arm.

“Hi.” He looked at her, and the look of vulnerability in his eyes was not the strong older brother she knew. He smiled a little, and she knew he was putting on a front for Diamante. He would fall apart later. She squeezed his hand, and turned to face the others.

“We had a thought.” Heather said. Eclipse almost stopped her, but realised that Erskine probably already knew this. “We were thinking that Mnemosyn was actually after Erskine, and Ghastly and Ivory were a cover-up.” Erskine stayed silent, which confirmed her suspicions that he’d worked that out for himself.

“Who is Mnemosyn, and why is he after Erskine, if he is?” Ghastly asked. Eclipse opened her mouth to answer, but Erskine got there before she could.

“All you need to know is that he is not someone you want to meet in a brightly lit, crowded high street in the daytime, let alone a dark alley at night. He’s a Sensitive who can do weird things with memories. That’s all you need to know.” Eclipse, Heather and Diamante nodded their agreement. 

“Okay. But then how did he know that Erskine was awake and out? As far as most people are concerned, he’s still down there.” Dexter said, pointing roughly to where the cells were. He made a good point.

“That’s possibly the most intelligent thing I have heard you say all year.” Saracen said, then moved quickly to the other side of the room as Dexter looked like he wanted to punch someone and Saracen had been sitting right beside him. Saracen suddenly stiffened. “Come in!” he called, even though no one had knocked, and the door opened to reveal a sheepish-looking girl who looked to be no older that eighteen, but looks could be deceiving. Just look at Diamante. She wasn’t sure how Saracen had known, though. It was just a Saracen thing.

“Uh...hi.”

“Hara! Is everything ok?” Heather turned to them. “This is my assistant, Hara Syntho.”

“Cool name.” Valkyrie said. Hara smiled, looking a little less nervous.

“Thanks. Likewise. Dr Anagram, one of your patients is awake. She needs a check-up.” Heather nodded. 

“I’ll be there in a moment. Thank you, Hara.” Hara left the room, and they waited for Saracen to give them the all clear. He nodded, and they continued from where they left off.

“As I was saying, there’s got to be some way that he knew. A spy.” They all looked at Erskine. He sighed.

“Honestly, just because I was responsible for  _ one  _ crazy psycho doesn’t mean I’m responsible for all the crazy psychos in the world now. Besides, think about it. Why would I be targeting myself?” They had the grace to look a little abashed. “But Dexter is right. I need to talk to Ivory again.” Eclipse frowned. 

“No! There is absolutely no way you are talking to that-” He cut her off, which was probably a good thing.

“Eclipse, if she only talks to me, then I can’t let my personal problems get in the way, and neither would you.” She wanted to. But she couldn’t.

“Fine. But we’re coming with you.”

“Obviously,” Valkyrie said. They made their way back to Ivory’s cell and opened the door. She was still grinning like a maniac.

“Back so soon? Thought that might be the case.”

“That’s enough, Ivory. Just tell us what we want to know.”

“What do you want to know?” she asked in a falsely interested tone. She was playing with them.

“Names, places, plans and so on.”

“Well...let me see. There’s Mnemosyn, of course-'' Erskine flinched slightly, and she noticed. Of course she did. That was what she was looking for. “Oh, don’t be so scared. Actually, do be scared. You can run, but you can’t hide. He’s always going to find you, and the more you try to delay the inevitable, the angrier he’ll be. And you know what happens when he gets angry, don’t you?” She was still using that false tone, and Erskine looked like he was about to panic again, but tamped it down.

“I’ve had enough of this.” he muttered. He stormed over to sit opposite her and looked her in the eye. “Tell me everything you know about Mnemosyn,” he said. She looked slightly dazed.

“I don’t know anything about his plans except that he wants to target you. That’s my job. And I only know one name. Brennan Gloom. A Necromancer. They’re working from some disused military barracks close to Galway.” She stopped talking, and Erskine seemed satisfied with that. He stood up and walked over to the doorway where everyone else was standing and looking confused and surprised. Skulduggery suddenly spoke up.

“Who told you to tell us all that?” She frowned, thinking hard.

“I...can’t quite remember. It was a man...I think. No, it was..yes...wait. I’m sorry. I can’t remember.” 

“I thought you might say that.” The door slammed shut as Eclipse pulled Erskine aside.

“What did you do that for?” she hissed.

“We needed the information. It was the easiest way of getting it,” he said in a calm tone.

“Look, I get that you don’t like being reminded of Mnemosyn, but you can’t let that get in the way of rational thinking. They’re going to be asking a whole lot of awkward questions now.” He sighed.

“I’m sorry, Eclipse. I should have thought better. Of course, you’re right, as you always are. I don’t know how I could ever have been so stupid as to think you weren’t.” Eclipse frowned.

“Are you teasing me?”

“Just a little.” He half-smiled. “Hug?” She rolled her eyes and pulled him into a hug, before turning to where the others were. 

“Come on, let’s go and face the music.” Saracen looked to be scrolling through his phone, which Eclipse found a little weird, before she noticed that the phone had a pink glittery case. Somehow, she doubted that it was Saracen’s phone.

“It appears our suspicions are correct.” Dexter said, waving them over.

“How do you mean?” Erskine asked.

“Take a look at this.” The phone was passed to them, and they looked at a text message thread between Ivory and someone called Brennan Gloom.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed it and normally I would say "May the Force be with you" but this isn't a Star Wars fanfic.
> 
> Starflight out!   
> Carlijn says; "The sparrow flies south for winter!" I don't get that reference.


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